ISS, THE FUTURE

On December 5, 2002, representatives of all the national space programmes partici­pating in ISS met in Tokyo, Japan to discuss the future of the programme. Despite earlier words of warning to the contrary, a Rosaviakosmos representative said that his company was not only prepared to meet its Soyuz and Progress commitments to ISS, but was ready to begin work on a living module designed to raise the Expedition crew to six people. The representative pointed out that NASA was responsible for the station’s advanced living quarters and Rosaviakosmos could only construct their new module if NASA compensated them, paid for it. The Russian representative stated that ISS member states had reached an accord to begin six-person operations in 2006.

EXPEDITION-6

Following Endeavour’s departure on December 2, Bowersox, Petitt, and Budarin spent the afternoon unpacking items that the Shuttle had delivered to ISS. Asked what his priorities were for the Expedition-6 occupation, Bowersox had told a pre-launch interview:

“Our number one goal is to have a positive experience for the crew and for the people on the ground. There’s a lot of things that come under that sub-goal: [N]umber one being come back alive, for it to be a safe flight; number two, to show people that Americans and Russians can work together in space and accomplish something meaningful; and then, the last thing is to accomplish some of our science objectives for the mission.’’